The Product Engineering Shift: The mindset that's redefining Engineering

## Three tech talks, open conversations with Manchester engineers, and a trip to the pub afterwards.

Thursday 5th March
⏰ 5:00–7:30pm (with continued networking afterwards)
Matillion HQ. Two New Bailey, Stanley Street, Salford, M3 5GS
️ Free to attend - secure your seat below

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Product engineering is becoming a defining capability in modern teams. Engineers are being asked to think beyond delivery, influence product decisions, and use tools like AI to create real outcomes, not just ship features.

This event brings together the Manchester engineering community to explore:

• What product engineering actually looks like in practice
• How AI fits into day-to-day engineering work (beyond the hype)
• How engineers are upskilling and moving closer to product
• What this shift means for long-term career progression

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## Who it's for:

• Software Engineers curious about product engineering
• Engineers working in product-led teams
• Senior engineers thinking about their next step
• Engineers who want more influence over what gets built
• Anyone interested in how AI is changing modern engineering roles

You don’t need “Product Engineer” in your job title to attend.

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## What to expect:

• 3 tech talks from practising engineers
• Plenty of networking before and after the talks
• Open, informal conversations with engineers from across Manchester
• Drinks and a trip to the pub afterwards to continue the networking

For more information: https://www.burnssheehan.co.uk/events/the-product-engineering-shift-exploring-the-mindset-thats-redefining-engineering/s590743/

## Guest speakers

Darren Shaw, Principal Software Engineer @ Autotrader UK
Darren is a Principal Software Engineer with 20+ years experience of delivering customer facing systems across a range of industries including: government, sports, media, retail and fashion.
Alongside Zein, Darren will explore what changes when engineers take on product responsibility, the lessons learned along the way, and how product thinking shapes technical decision-making in practice.

Zein Aji, Senior Software Developer @ Autotrader UK
Zein is a Senior Software Engineer at Autotrader, where they work on complex marketplace challenges that sit at the intersection of engineering, product and user impact.
With deep experience in building and evolving large-scale systems, Zein navigated the realities of acting as product engineers, balancing technical trade-offs with commercial priorities, user needs and measurable outcomes.
In Zein & Darren's talk, “Sorting Cars at Autotrader: What We’ve Learned Acting as Product Engineers”, they will share how they designed, validated and implemented an intelligent sorting system for AutoTrader’s marketplace.

James Wright, Senior Software Engineer @ Prolific
James is a Senior Software Engineer at Prolific, where he works in product-led teams building and evolving software that directly shapes user outcomes. He’s passionate about writing maintainable, efficient code and is also a keen writer and public speaker.
With a background rooted in engineering-first environments, James has experienced first-hand the shift towards product-first thinking, moving beyond pure delivery to influencing decisions, collaborating cross-functionally, and focusing on impact over output.
In his talk, “From Engineering-First to Product-First: a Mindset Shift”, James will share practical reflections on what that transition looks like in reality, the changes in mindset, the challenges along the way, and what it means for engineers navigating modern software roles.

Andy Norton, VP Engineering @ Flipdish
Andy is an experienced engineering leader who has guided multiple teams through the transition towards product engineering. He works at the intersection of engineering craft, product thinking and organisational development, helping teams move beyond pure delivery and towards deeper user impact.
Having navigated this shift several times, Andy has seen first-hand that the real challenge isn’t simply renaming roles or restructuring teams, it’s developing product engineering capability within the engineers you already have.
In his talk, “Mapping a Product Engineering Path”, Andy will explore how to anchor teams around user needs, identify where product engineering capability matters most within your system, and turn that understanding into a practical development plan. He’ll also touch on how AI is accelerating change across engineering teams, and why gaining situational awareness before hiring or reorganising is often the smartest first step.

Craig Aspinall, Product Engineer @ PortSwigger
Craig is a Product Engineer at PortSwigger, where he helps shape a culture built on trust, high standards and meaningful impact. His background spans developer, CTO, founder and mentor, giving him a broad perspective on how engineering roles evolve as companies grow.
Deeply engaged with the changing landscape of AI, Craig believes AI isn’t a novelty but a new professional skillset engineers need to embrace thoughtfully.
In “Product Engineering: Where Have You Been All My Life?”, Craig shares a candid reflection on a frustrating hiring campaign that exposed a deeper issue: the problem wasn’t the talent market, it was the role definition. He’ll explore why “software engineer” wasn’t attracting the right profile, what changed when they reframed the role as product engineer, and how naming the role properly transformed recruitment conversations in the age of AI.